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Title: “Epitaph Two: Return”
Written by: Maurissa Tancharoen Whedon, Jed Whedon & Andrew Chambliss
Air Date: 29th January 2009

Here it is, the final episode of Dollhouse ever.  It’s not as monumental an event as it will be when Lost airs it’s final episode sometime in April, but for fans of Eliza Dushku’s and Joss Whedon’s action sci-fi drama it’s something of note.  I’m not what you’d call a true diehard fan of Whedon or Dushku.  I don’t think Firefly is as good as it’s become in the eyes of many, and I’m still not convinced of Dushku’s acting chops, but I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt simply because of my undying love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Buffy is the only reason I sat through the first half of Dollhouse’s first season, having faith that Whedon had a plan and would soon begin executing it.  That plan began to form around episode six “Man on the Street” and from that point on Dollhouse improved exponentially.

This season has been great from start to finish with each episode seemingly building on the mythology developed during the tail end of the first season and the futuristic unaired first season episode “Epitaph One”.  It’s only fitting that after the previous two episodes where the gang took on Rossum in an attempt to destroy the technology that we get another Epitaph episode which picks up soon after the original story.  The three survivors from “Epitaph One” are making their way to Safehaven under the guidance of Caroline in the little girls body.  They’re soon apprehended and taken as bodies for Rossum execs Harding (Adelle’s one-time successor originally played by Keith Carradine) and Ambrose (previously seen in “Echoes”, “Meet Jane Doe” and “Getting Closer”).  Echo and Ballard have already infiltrated the complex in order to rescue Topher who’s being used to develop advanced tech for Rossum.  In his disturbed state Topher says that he can return the world to how it was and restore all the people affected by wipes to their original selves.  All he needs is access to the Dollhouse back in LA.  The whole gang go back to LA and find Alpha protecting dolls in the Dollhouse.  Topher’s tech is to be shot into the stratosphere and this will allow it to dissipate across the globe.  However, because Echo, Priya and Victor don’t want to go back to their original selves they must stay underground in the Dollhouse for the next year whilst the radiation (?) from the bomb fades.

Whew, as you can see a lot of stuff is crammed into this final episode in order to give a proper sense of closure to the Dollhouse story.  It does feel a little rushed at times, but because “Epitaph Two” is set ten years in the future it allows the writers to present circumstances that fit storywise without the need for exposition detailing how the circumstances have changed so dramatically for the characters.  For example, Priya’s and Victor’s breakup is presented as stemming from a choice Victor had to make between her and the tech without any flashback to illustrate this, and Alpha is now a somewhat balanced person I assume because of him taking on Ballard’s personality in a previous episode, but this is not alluded to in any fashion.

Just like “Epitaph One” it takes a little while to adjust to the future setting with ten years of history gone by, new characters, old characters in new bodies, and new goals, but once this is done it becomes as engaging as ever.  And although this episode ends on a slightly more uplifting and hopeful note, it’s just as bleak as “Epitaph One”.  But you know what, I really like the tone of the show in these last few episodes and especially both of the Epitaph ones.  Not everything has to be peaches and cream.  The characters are going against the odds, they are dealing with dangerous technology, and that technology does raise both moral and philosophical questions about what it means to be human.  If this type of story was told any other way I’d be sorely disappointed.  Thankfully Whedon and company understood this and we all got a great finale for a show which grew stronger and stronger as it went along.  In fact, as finales to Joss Whedon shows go I may rank this higher than both Buffy and Angel.  I’m not saying that Dollhouse is a better show than either Buffy or Angel, but I do think that it had the most fitting sendoff of the three.  Dollhouse didn’t start out very well with the constant imprint-of-the-week episodes, but once it got rolling and the scope of the story was revealed it was an absolute pleasure to watch.  I’m hopeful that Joss Whedon will return with something new soon and that he’ll be given longer than 26 episodes to tell the story he wants.

FINAL RATING: 8/10

© CBS

Title: “The Leap”
Written by: Craig Thomas and Carter Bays

Well here we are, the last of the season finales that I actually care about.  Last week was pretty hectic with the finales of Fringe, Lost, 30 Rock, The Office and Parks & Recreation, all of which were fantastic finishes to great seasons.  So how does How I Met Your Mother stack up to these shows?  Frankly, pretty well.

I like this show.  I might even go so far as to say I love this show sometimes, but there are elements to it which aggravate me, and they’re elements which are central to the premise of the show.  Chief amongst these is Ted’s quest to find his perfect match.  I know the show gets its name from his search, and that’s typically how they work any storyline involving Ted, but it’s not important to the show.  In my opinion they could easily dispense with the whole “how I met your mother” element and make the show simply about the gang living in the here and now.  The show wouldn’t suffer in the least from this and it would save me having to put up with the presence of Ted’s kids, the voiceover from Bob Saget, and the constant tease that maybe his kids’ mother would be revealed when we all know she won’t be until the end of the show.  Honestly, what’s the point of repeating these constant teases about finding “the mother” when the central charm and enjoyment of this show comes from the interaction between the gang.

Anyway, enough of my rant about my pet peeves and onto the actual episode.  The episode follows Ted struggling to come up with a proposal for his rib restaurant clients, Marshall throwing Ted a surprise birthday party on the roof, and Barney and Robin dealing with their feelings to each other.  The title of the episode, “The Leap”, comes from the leap that all of the characters make in the episode, either physical or metaphorical.  Marshall finally makes the leap across buildings to the perfect rooftop, Barney and Robin appear to have made the leap in their relationship despite their emotional barriers, and Ted makes the leap from dreaming and struggling to be an architect to taking the job as a professor.  There’s a nice symmetry in this and it all played out well in the closing scene on the rooftop.  It was touching without being sappy.

I can’t review this episode without mentioning the return of Lily to the fold.  The show has plugged along pretty well without the presence of Alyson Hannigan, or so I thought, but her return adds another quality to the show that I didn’t even realise was missing.  Alyson brings the cute and funny Lily to life and she provides Marshall with another person to bounce off and interact with that boosts the show when other elements fall a little flat.  She also delivered a great speech to Ted about him being like the goat who wants the hand towel all the time when it’s forgotten why it even wants it.  It’s this speech which gives Ted the impetus to stop trying to be an architect and take the job as a professor which allows him to follow his passion in a more fitting scenario.  I’m very glad they were able to bring Alyson Hannigan back to finish out the season so the whole gang could be together again and they could take the leap into the unknown as a group.

Final Grade: A-